Hydrangea
by Cranberries
Summary: Bleach/xxxHolic An Ame-Warashi has a request of Ichigo to save a Child, only thing is is that not everything is as it's seen and Ichigo learns a bit about what Natural Spirits think of humans.


((AN: I seem to be doing a lot of one-shots…and this one has been floating in my head for the past few days.))

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bleach or xxxHolic; some passages here are from volume 5 of xxxHolic.

Ichigo pulled out his umbrella, grumbling about the rain.

"You do know that without the rain most plants would die?" Rukia said.

"But for 3 days?! God damn rain." Ichigo growled out, only to stumble forward due to someone hitting him in the head with a umbrella.

"DAMNIT RUKIA!"

"It wasn't me!" she yelled back.

"That's what you get for cursing the rain! If it didn't rain then there would not be enough water for the rice crops!" A girl with bright red hair done up in pig tails, dressing in a long gothic like dress wielding an umbrella said.

Ichigo and Rukia gave her a blank look, "Uh…do I know you?" Ichigo asked.

"No, but I have a request for you Soul Reapers!"

"WHAT?!"

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"Okay she's a what now?"

"An Ame-warashi," Rukia said, her nose in a book on Japanese mythical and spiritual creatures, "a rain sprite or rain maker."

"Okay, uh…Ame-warashi…what do you want?" Ichigo asked, the three have now re-located to his house. He thanked the gods that his two sisters and Dad were out.

"Hmm, rude much! I guess I should have just gone back to that Witch to see if I could borrow that boy again." She commented, sitting on a chair.

"Wait, wait, I'm sorry." Ichigo said, "Now, you said you had a request?"

"Yes, I need you to go on a rescue mission." Ame-warashi said, "I tried earlier, but I could not get close enough."

"A rescue mission?" Rukia asked.

"Yes, I need you to save a child at a park by the river." She said, "It has been 15 years and it is time to end its suffering."

"Alright, I'll help." Ichigo said.

Rukia eyed the Ame-warashi, and then turned to Ichigo.

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"Maybe you should re-think this Ichigo."

"Why? You heard what she said, a kid is in trouble."

"Yes, but wouldn't you think that if a spirit of some sort were in trouble, then the Soul Society would of notified us about it way before? She said it was been 15 years. One would think that the Soul Society would notify the Soul Reaper of this area about it."

"Well maybe they over looked it!" Ichigo said as the two came upon the park.

"I don't think so, there has to be a reason for it…" Rukia mumbled to herself, "This might be a trap."

"A trap?"

"Yes a trap, spirits like the Ame-warashi and others that stay in this world don't necessarily get along with the Soul Society or like Soul Reapers."

"And why would that be?" Ichigo asked as he looked around the park, there where just a few trees and a giant flower bush.

"Well, we send spirits from this would to the Soul Society, but there are some here that some Soul Reapers call 'Natural Spirits'. One's that have duties here, and sometimes those Natural Spirits are accidentally sent to the Soul Society."

Ichigo turned to Rukia, "Really?"

"Yes, and some of the higher spirits that govern over them…well… lets just say that they don't take to kindly to having friends or ones of the same species sent to the other side." Rukia explained.

Ichigo nodded, "Okay, so some of them are pissy."

"I'm just curious as to why a rain sprite is concerned about a human spirit. I have heard stories about what some of these sprites do to people that disregard them."

Ichigo eyed the flowers, "Huh, this is weird."

"Hmm?" Rukia walked over to where Ichigo was standing, "What?"

"All the flowers at the top are blue…but all the ones at the bottom are red."

"It might just be the flowers." Rukia said, walking over to the river to see if she could sense anything.

Ichigo made to turn and follow her, only to feel something tug at his foot.

"Whoa there, don't want to rip you off." He said as he untangled the flower from his leg, "How did you get on my leg anyway?"

_"Help…the…child…"_

"What?!" Ichigo looked around, sure he heard voices, but it wasn't every single day he heard them.

_"Help…the…child..."_ Another voice said, slightly fairer that the first.

_"She…is…going…the…wrong…way..."_

_"Where…she…is…going…is…not…safe…"_

_"It…is…not…the…way…to…the…light…"_

_"Help…her…find…the…right…way…"_

_"Hear…our…plea..."_

Ichigo looked at the plant, "Are you talking?"

_"Help…the…child…"_

_Okay…talking plants. This is new._ Ichigo thought, "Um, I'm trying to help her, but I don't know where she is."

"Ichigo, are you talking to that plant?" Rukia called.

"I think it knows about the girl!" Ichigo called back.

Rukia walked over, "I don't hear anything."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, "You told me you're a Soul Reaper from the Soul Society and you don't believe that a plant is talking?"

"That is a bit different."

_"Help…her…she…is…in…danger…"_

_"Young…Soul…Reaper...we…will…take…you…there…"_

The plants began to move apart, making a single little path.

"Okay, talking plants…" Rukia said.

"I'll be back shortly." Ichigo said, walking in. The plants closed behind him.

Rukia eyed a flower, "So…whats up?"

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Ichigo continued following the little path, and then he started to hear crying.

"Huh?"

A small clearing enough for him to feel a bit comfortable seemed more like a place that a kid would use as a hiding spot and sitting in the middle with her back facing him was a little girl.

"Hey, you okay."

"No –sniff, sniff-, I want to go home." She cried out.

"Then why don't you?"

"It won't let me." She sniffed, rubbing her eyes as she turned to look at him.

"What wont?"

_"You…were…going…the…wrong…way…"_

"THEN WHAT WAY SHOULD I GO!" She cried out, a new fresh flood of tears cascaded down her face.

Ichigo noticed her chain of fate, it was not broken but going down into the earth.

_"The…way…she…was…going…only…led…to…darkness…"_

_"If…she…continued…she…would…be…lost…to…the…light…"_

"Hey, it's okay. Someone sent me here to take you home." Ichigo said, he took a step forward and his foot hit something. He looked down and noticed a rock…but in his gut he had a feeling it wasn't a rock. He crouched down and lightly started dusting away the dirt.

"DON'T!" the little girl cried out.

"Huh, what?"

She sniffled a bit, "I'm dirty and disgusting, and everyone is going to say their sick at the sight of me."

Ichigo blinked at her, and then looked down at the ground, a bit further down from what he believed was her skull a bit of fabric poked out from the soil, the faded pattern looked similar to the pattern on the dress she wore. _Well, the Ame-warashi did say 15 years,_ he thought.

"Don't worry; I'm her to send you to a better place."

She sniffled again and looked up at Ichigo.

"Really?"

"Yeah, and trust me, they won't think that when they see you." He said, drawing his zanpakuto and pressed the hilt to her head.

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"Well, the police said that her clothing is the same as a missing child reported 15 years ago." Ichigo said, wiping his hair dry.

"Well, that's good, at least now her family will finally know what happened to their child."

A knock came at the window.

"AH! AN AME-WARASHI!" Kon yelled and dived under Ichigo's bed.

"Why is it that he seems to know more about her then we do?"

"Well…our research and development section had been known to experiment on anything. It would not surprise me if they caught a few sprites to experiment on.

Ichigo opened the window to see the Ame-warashi floating outside.

"Thank you for helping the child."

"No problem, I'm just glad that the girl was found."  
"Huh?"

"You know…the girl…the one buried there?"

"I didn't send you there for that! I sent you to save the hydrangeas!"

"Hydrangeas?"

"YES! Those flowers, I don't care about the human!"

Ichigo looked a bit confused and irritated.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T CARE? That little girl stayed there for 15 years scared and wondering why she couldn't go home!"

"AND HER CORPSE WAS CORRUPTING A PURE ESSENCE!"

"A what now?"

"Those hydrangeas are a pure essence, one of the few in this world. And a corpse was turning there vibrant blue flowers red. Blood of a corpse is poison to a pure essence!"

"So by child you meant?"

"Yes, I meant the hydrangeas! That child is related and dependant on those who control rain."

"So you didn't even care about the little girl!" Ichigo fumed.

"Humans do nothing to help the precious things of the world. Why should the precious things have to help some human?" the Ame-warashi said as she disappeared into rain.

Ichigo looked out dumb founded, and then slammed his window closed.

"You really thought she wanted to save the kid?"

"Well didn't you?!"

"No, I had a feeling it was something else, I just didn't know what that else was."

"Why didn't the Soul Society know where she was?"

"You said her chain of fate wasn't broken and was still connected to her body?"

"Yeah."

"I believe that the hydrangea was keeping her there by keeping her chain of fate connected to her body and not allowing her soul to wander."

"But why would it do that?"

"It said that she was going the wrong way didn't it?"

"Yeah, and that she was going to the darkness and she would be lost to the light."

"I don't know much about these Natural Spirits, but I have a feeling that being a pure essence, those hydrangeas have a special power and were keeping the girl from going to this dark place by keeping her chain intact. So essentially, the plant was keeping the girl safe."

"But her body was killing it right?"

"Ichigo, there is a difference between the body and spirit." Rukia said, "It wouldn't surprise me if the hydrangea felt sorry for the little girl and kept her safe until someone would come along and take her the right way."

"So the plant was actually helping her?"

"In a way yes. Not all Natural Spirits are mean to humans."


End file.
